Swedes say No To Olympic Boycott, Just.

Published onsdag 9 april 2008 kl 10.31

Protesters in San Francisco

Swedes are deeply split as to whether the country should boycott the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games this summer.

According to a new opinion poll 4 out of 10 Swedes say yes, while 5 out of 10 say no. There have been calls to boycott the ceremony to mark Sweden’s disapproval of current events in Tibet and the Chinese Government’s attitude towards human rights.

But Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt says he is against any boycott and will attend the opening ceremony. Speaking at a meeting of Nordic leaders in the north of Sweden Reinfeldt said that the political situation in China was well known when the IOC picked the country to host the Olympics 7 years ago. He has been supported in his views from an unusual ally, Left Party Leader Lars Ohly who says a boycott would be a meaningless gesture. Social Democrat leader Mona Sahlin says however that she thinks that a political boycott of the opening ceremony should be considered.